A video recorded by the student was posted online. The retweet of the video (shown below) was posted by someone other than the student.
A transgender female student @ Osseo Senior High was ostracized by administration, violated, and put out of school for using the Girl's bathroom. 🤬— Kenidra4Humanity (@KenidraRWoods_) November 29, 2018
Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/Pkh46MAjJP
On the school's website, a posting from the principal, Michael Lehan, addressed the situation.
I am aware of social media posts that significantly misrepresent an incident that
occurred at school on Nov. 28. It’s important for you to know that no students
were barred or banned from using any bathroom at Osseo Senior High.
I sincerely wish I could say more, but for data privacy reasons, I cannot provide
details about a situation involving a specific student.
What I hope you already know is that we work every day to create an inclusive
school where students feel welcome and respected. Our staff regularly works
with individual students and families who have varying needs, including needs
related to identity.
I also want to assure you that staff intervenes in the use of restrooms only in
situations such as the following:
• Concern about the safety of students, staff or community members
• Illness or health-related issues
• Suspected illegal activity
Respectfully,
Michael Lehan
Principal
Osseo Senior High
Principal Lehan is trying to address a serious situation, but his response, while not terrible, doesn't fully address the situation. Let's look at what points Principal Lehan makes in his online message.
He mentions no students were banned from using any bathroom at the school. As I've mentioned, the student herself disputes that. He gives data privacy as his reason for not going into any further detail. This may be due to either not divulging the identity of an underage student or, in light of the school board and school district making no other comment, to not divulge the names of the adults who entered the bathroom. While understandable in the case of the student, why keep the adults' identities quiet if they were presumably acting properly?
Principal Lehan goes on to mention their work to make Osseo Senior High School inclusive, welcoming, and respectful, even working with those with needs, including identity. It might be important to note here that Osseo School District is no stranger to controversy regarding LGBT issues. Thirteen years ago, a student group, Straights and Gays for Equality (SAGE), was not allowed at the Maple Grove Senior School (a school in the same district as Osseo Senior High) to freely promote their events. The group complained that other groups (i.e. synchronized swimming team, cheerleading squad, and Black Achievers group) could promote their events, but not them.
The school district initially said the other groups were allowed to promote their events, including announcements over the school's public address system, and allowed access to the school's facilities because those groups were viewed as curricular activities. Lawyers for SAGE (including some parents) disagreed and argued those groups were not connected to, or stemmed from, any particular classes. A lawsuit was filed by the ACLU in 2005 on behalf of SAGE, claiming the school violated the federal Equal Access Act. The presiding district judge ruled in favor of SAGE and issued a temporary restraining order against the school the following year.
The Osseo School District filed appeals against the injunction, but were unsuccessful every time. In the Fall of 2007, a permanent injunction was issued, giving SAGE the same rights of promoting and equal access as other groups throughout the entire school district.
While the SAGE fiasco more than a decade ago and the current issue of this transgender student may or may not be the only issues the district has had on its hands, how this student was treated is nothing short of disgraceful. If Principal Lehan is correct, exactly how is what happened to this student showing inclusiveness? I would hardly call this treatment welcoming, rather more along the lines of the antithesis of respectful.
And is this occurrence an example of working with this student to address her needs? Hardly. What this showed is that this student's needs, at least on this day, fell somewhere in the spectrum between irrelevant and non-existent.
Per the principal's online message, what threat did this transgender student pose by going to the bathroom? An olfactory offense? She did not appear to be sick or unhealthy in any way, so is her going to the bathroom going to make anyone else sick? (Maybe if she had a cold and touched a lot of common areas, like handles and knobs, or coughed without covering her mouth.) Also, what law did she break?
And what warranted having three adults enter the girls' bathroom, two of whom were male, and open the door to the stall she was in? Seriously, what??!!!!
I realize that transgender public bathroom access is a huge national issue. Transgender people are people and, as such, they have to go to the bathroom just like anyone else. Overzealous arguments against equal access have an inherent presumption of a lower moral character on the part of the transgender individual. If you looked, I'll bet that the vast majority of those who commit such acts are not transgender persons (called, as of late, cisgender). Whenever I hear arguments about soliciting sex in bathrooms (public lewdness), my answer is always four words: Former Senator Larry Craig.
If you would like to let Principal Michael Lehan know your feelings on this, here is the contact information:
His E-mail address is lehanm@district279.org
The high school's phone number is 763-391-8500, and its fax number is 763-391-8511.
If you would like to let The Osseo School District ISD 279 know your feelings on this, here is the contact information:
Its phone number is 763-391-7000
Its E-mail address is WeListen@district279.org
Terry
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